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Hillman, Victor John (Flying Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-February-17

Birth Date: 1920-March-15 (age 23)

Home: Loon Lake, Saskatchewan

Service
RCAF
Unit
152 OTU- Operational Training Unit
Base
Peshwar, India
Rank
Flying Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/20621
Prev: R/119550

152 Operational Training Unit Vengence II aircraft AN 629 lost control in turbulance in the air and crashed sixteen miles south-west of Chakdaha, at Marakabur, Bengal

WO T Barlow (RCAF)(UK) and Flying Officer VJ Hillman (RCAF) were killed

addendum 2: See page 324. F/O. Hillman is buried in the Rawalpindi War Cemetery, Pakistan in the section of the Protestant Cemetery known as Gorah Qabrastaan.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Google MapLoon Lake, Saskatchewan
Burial
Google MapRawalpindi War Cemetery
2 C 15

Vengeance AN629

Vultee Vengeance

Source: Kestrel Publications

The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line aircraft by the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific.

In 1940, Vultee Aircraft started the design of a single engined dive-bomber, the Vultee Model 72 (V-72) to meet the requirements of the French Armée de l'Air. The V-72 was built with private funds and was intended for sale to foreign markets. The V-72 was a low-wing, single-engine monoplane with a closed cockpit and a crew of two. An air-cooled radial Wright Twin Cyclone GR-2600-A5B-5 engine rated at 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) powered the V-72. It was armed with both fixed forward-firing and flexible-mounted .30 in (7.62 mm) machine guns in the rear cockpit. The aircraft also carried up to 1,500 lb (680 kg) of bombs in an interior bomb bay and on external wing racks.

The Vengeance was uniquely designed to dive vertically without lift from the wing pulling the aircraft off target. To this end, it had a 0 degree angle of incidence on the wing to better align the nose of the aircraft with the target during the dive. This resulted in the aircraft cruising in a nose-up attitude, giving a poor forward view for the pilot, particularly during landing. It had an unusual, W-shaped wing planform. This resulted from an error in calculating its centre of gravity. Moving the wing back by "sweeping" the centre section was a simpler fix than re-designing the wing root. This gives the impression of an inverted gull wing when seen from an angle, when in fact the wing has a more conventional dihedral on the outer wing panels. Wikipedia

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Vultee Vengeance

General War History Online - Vultee Vengeance

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
Canadian Crewed (8)
last update: 2021-11-04 15:12:00

Vengeance Mk. II AN629



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